Expansion joint coupling



Jan. 10, 1939- J. V. MORRISSEY EXPANSION JOINT COUPLING Filed Jan. 21,1957 'J'Oef lmenfoiz' H V MORE/655V,

Patented Jan. 10, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE EXPANSION JOINTCOUPLING Jersey Application January 21, 1937, Serial No. 121,649

1 Claim.

This invention relates to expansion joint couplings and especially thosewhich are particularly adapted for use with metal fences, hand railingsor the like, although not limited thereto.

An object of this invention is to provide a novel, effective, expansionjoint coupling that is easily assembled.

The above and further objects will become apparent by referring to thefollowing description and the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is an elevation, partly in section, of one embodiment of myinvention;

Figure 2 is a section on line II--II of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a section on line III--III of Figure 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the numeral 4 indicatesgenerally the expansion joint coupling which includes a tubular memberor sleeve 6. The sleeve 8 is provided with a smooth circular bore 5 andis adapted to receive adjacent ends 8 and it of pipes or rods H and 52which form the top rail of a wire fence, hand rail, or the like. Theexpansion joint coupling i is constructed and arranged to retain theadjacent ends 8 and i0, respectively, of the pipes or rods 1 I and i2,and compensate for the expansion and contraction thereof. The ends 8 andIll are normally spaced from each other, and the sleeve 6 is of suchlength that they would not normally be moved therefrom by expansion andcontraction of the pipes It and E2.

The pipes or rods i l and i2 move slightly with changes in temperatureand to provide means for controlling; and offering resistance to suchmovement a spring Hi, preferably provided with substantially flat endsurfaces, is disposed in the sleeve 6. The spring Hi is adjacent alignedapertures i5 which extends through both walls of the sleeve 6. In orderto positively hold the spring M in the sleeve 5 and thereby prevent oneof the pipes H or 52 from pushing the other from the sleeve, a suitablesecuring device, for example a rivet i6, is placed through the aperturesI5 and 5 spring l4. To protect the ends of the sleeve 6, means, such ascaps l8, can be forced thereon or otherwise secured thereto.

The sleeve 9, which is the essential part of the coupling 4, ispreferably formed from hot-rolled 10 mild steel and is of standardshape. The parts of the coupling 4 can be easily and rapidly assembled,as is evident from Figure l of the drawing.

While I have shown and described a specific embodiment of my invention,it will be seen that 15 I do not wish to be limited thereto, sincevarious modifications may be made without departing from the scope ofthe invention as defined by the following claim.

I claim:

An expansion joint coupling comprising a sleeve having a bore of uniformcross-section, elongated members positioned within and substantiallyfilling the cross-section of the bore of said sleeve for longitudinalexpansion and contraction therein, a 25 unitary compression springco-axially disposed within said sleeve between the ends of said membersto maintain said members in spaced relation, aligned openings throughthe walls of said sleeve 30 and a pin extending transversely throughsaid sleeve and between the coils of said spring to retain said springagainst substantial movement in either direction axially of said sleeveexcept by rotation, whereby either of said members is pre- 35 ventedfrom pushing the other member out of said sleeve.

JOSEPH V. MORRISSEY.

